Connected vehicle communication port integrated universal garage door opener

Abstract

A universal garage door opener (UGDO) system for a vehicle is disclosed. The UGDO system includes one or more transceivers configured to transmit and receive UGDO data via one or more antennas, a microcontroller operable to control the one or more transceivers to implement UGDO functionality, and a vehicle interface configured to exchange signals between the microcontroller and at least one vehicle subsystem of the vehicle, wherein at least the one or more antennas, the microcontroller, and the vehicle interface are embedded into and integrated with connected vehicle communication port positioned in proximity to a roof of the vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A vehicle control system for a vehicle, comprising:
 a sharkfin antenna positioned exterior to and on a roof of the vehicle, the sharkfin antenna comprising at least one vehicle subsystem module comprising:
 a first transceiver; 
 a microcontroller operable to control the first transceiver; and 
 a vehicle interface configured to exchange signals between the microcontroller and the at least one vehicle subsystem, 
 
 wherein the at least one vehicle subsystem module is augmented to comprise universal garage door opener (UGDO) functionality by:
 embedding a second transceiver into the sharkfin antenna, 
 adapting the first transceiver to operate bi-directionally at a plurality of frequencies below 1 GHz, 
 upgrading the microcontroller to include UGDO functionality and to communicate with the second transceiver, and 
 modifying the vehicle interface to accommodate a human-machine interface (HMI) command to be transferred to the vehicle subsystem module. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The vehicle control system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle subsystem module comprises one selected from a group consisting of: a remote keyless entry (RKE) module and vehicle-to-infrastructure module (V2X), a vehicle-to-vehicle module (V2V), a Bluetooth/WiFi hotspot module, a satellite radio module, a GPS module, and a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) module. 
     
     
       3. The vehicle control system of  claim 2 , wherein the vehicle interface communicates with the vehicle subsystem module using one selected from a group consisting of: local interconnect network (LIN), controller area network (CAN) bus, Flexray, Ethernet, and low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS). 
     
     
       4. The vehicle control system of  claim 1 , wherein the first transceiver comprises a radio frequency (RF) sub-GHz transceiver and the second transceiver comprises a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi transceiver. 
     
     
       5. The vehicle control system of  claim 1 , wherein upgrading the microcontroller to include UGDO functionality comprises: adding transceiver operations and protocols to support communication with various GDOs, adding a ‘training’ sequence that supports a specific handheld remote device for a garage door; and adding a communication method for communication with an HMI subsystem. 
     
     
       6. The vehicle control system of  claim 5 , wherein the communication method is a LIN network management and a LIN matrix for the LIN communication protocol. 
     
     
       7. A vehicle control system for a vehicle, comprising:
 a telematics control unit (TCU) capable of universal garage door opener (UGDO) functionality, comprising:
 one or more transceivers configured to transmit and receive UGDO data via one or more antennas; 
 a microcontroller operable to control the one or more transceivers to implement the UGDO functionality; and 
 a vehicle interface configured to exchange signals between the microcontroller and at least one vehicle subsystem of the vehicle; 
 
 a connected vehicle communication port separate from the TCU operably connected to the vehicle, comprising:
 the one or more antennas corresponding to the one or more transceivers, 
 
 wherein the TCU is mounted in the vehicle in physical proximity to the connected vehicle communication port. 
 
     
     
       8. The vehicle control system of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one vehicle subsystem is a human-machine interface (HMI) system. 
     
     
       9. The vehicle control system of  claim 8 , wherein the HMI system communicates with the microcontroller operating the one or more transceivers using the vehicle interface. 
     
     
       10. The vehicle control system of  claim 9 , wherein the vehicle interface is a controller area network (CAN) bus or Ethernet LAN. 
     
     
       11. The vehicle control system of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more transceivers comprise one selected from a group consisting of: a radio frequency (RF) sub-GHz transceiver and a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi transceiver. 
     
     
       12. The vehicle control system of  claim 7 , wherein the connected vehicle communication port is positioned exteriorly on a roof of the vehicle.